The Whitewater controversy was a series of events and actions that had its origins in 1978. While in Arkansas, the Clintons were partners with Jim and Susan McDougal in a real estate venture known as the Whitewater Development Corporation. According to reports, the Clintons lost their financial investment in the Whitewater business projects. At the time the McDougals operated a savings and loan that retained Hillary Clinton's legal services at Rose Law Firm. When the McDougals' savings and loan failed in 1994, federal investigators subpoenaed Clinton's legal billing records for auditing purposes. Hillary Clinton claimed to be unable to produce these records. After an extensive, two-year search, the records were found in the first lady's book room in the White House and delivered to investigators in 1996. The delayed appearance of the billing records sparked intense interest and another investigation about how they surfaced and where they had been; Clinton attributed the problem to disorganization that resulted from her move from the Arkansas Governor's Mansion to the White House as well as the effects of a White House renovation.[34] After the discovery of the records, on January 26, 1996, Clinton made history by becoming the first First Lady to testify before a grand jury.[35]

The Whitewater investigation was initiated by Independent Counsel Robert Fiske appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno. The case was later taken over by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, and concluded by Independent Counsel Robert Ray. Several other allegations were also investigated under the Whitewater umbrella. The investigations, which took place during Bill Clinton's presidency and cost an estimated $40 million, resulted in the McDougals being jailed and Webster Hubbell pleading guilty to felony charges of lying to federal investigators about Clinton's role in both Whitewater and the savings and loan failure.No criminal charges were brought against the Clintons themselves, as Robert Ray's final report on September 20, 2000 stated that there was insufficient evidence that either of them had engaged in criminal wrongdoing.[36]

...looks like clinton really pulled an o.j. simpsonesque draw with fate...she could have landed in jail like her friends...

...if people are upset about bush "wire-tapping maneuvers"...what do they think about another four years of "questionable maneuvers" and flirting with illegal matters that will accompany rodham clinton...

haven't people had enough of the "secret sharer" politicians.

ps. Hillary clinton is a sophomore senator...obama is a freshman senator...and obama doesn't have "secret or clandestine" inclinations in his past...they have about the same senate experience...but one has a clean record and hillary's is covered in flip-flops...white water...sandy berger and no umbrella.

LAS VEGAS: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has said that his top rival's attempt to pressure the Bush administration to end the war in Iraq is "a convoluted approach to the problem."

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to introduce an amendment repealing the congressional authorisation for the war.

It would require the president to seek new authority from Congress if he wanted to continue operations past October 11, 2007, five years after initial authorisation was given.

"If you simply repeal the language, then presumably you'd have to reauthorise something. You've got 150,000 troops over there and support personnel," Obama told The Associated Press in an interview after a campaign stop in Las Vegas.

"Why we would try that approach as opposed to simply setting a timetable for withdrawal strikes me as a convoluted approach to the problem," he said.

Clinton proposed the amendment, which is to be co-sponsored by West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, after facing persistent pressure, particularly from voters in early primary states, to distance herself from her initial vote to authorise the war.

"I was opposed to this war back in 2002, knowing that this was going to be a bad idea," the Illinois senator told the group of more than 100 gathered for a house party for precinct captains.

It was the freshman senator's fourth trip to Nevada since launching his presidential bid. His campaign used the trip to push back against the perception that Clinton was racing ahead in the state that will hold the nation's second caucus, January 19.

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If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? m.of v. w.shaka speare

SALT LAKE CITY -- Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd took issue Saturday with comments John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton were overheard making on limiting the number of Democrats in presidential debates. "I'd remind them that the mic is always on," Dodd told reporters Saturday after addressing a state convention of Utah Democrats.

"Celebrity and money are not going to decide this race," he said. "People take some offense at it in these early primary and caucus states."

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, and New York Sen. Clinton were overheard by broadcast microphones after an NAACP forum in Detroit on Thursday, saying that debates should be limited to only a handful of candidates.

"We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group," Edwards said, and Clinton agreed.

"Our guys should talk," Clinton said, complaining the format had "trivialized" the discussion.

Dodd is the third Democratic presidential candidate to visit Utah following Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who arrived Friday night for a state party fundraiser.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, is expected to attend a fundraiser in Park City in August.

Why don't you give yourself some credibility and start posting all the *&^% that goes against your pet politicians as well?

aye like obama...but not as much lying going on with him...

at least not the surreptitious way rodham clinton tries to paint herself...

aye'm sure bill has had to tell her more than once not to wear blackface makeup when speaking near the apollo theatre.

hillary has only one term on obama...aye'll take his lack of experience over hers any day.

...my beef is that many african americans believe that she has their best interests at hand and that is not the case...aye have converted many to the obama line...but some think bill is going to be running the show...we trini americans know that voting is pretty bunk...the republican party doesn't care...and the democrats think they own us...hillary thinks she owns the african american vote...aye don't subscribe to her overconfidence...

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If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? m.of v. w.shaka speare

By Scott Helman and James W. Pindell, Globe Correspondent | July 27, 2007

CONCORD, N.H. -- With the first Democratic primary still six months away, the long-running rivalry between Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois reached a new pitch yesterday when Obama likened Clinton's views of diplomacy to "Bush-Cheney light."

The clash, which has escalated since Monday night's debate, comes over who has the smarter approach to American foreign policy. Obama yesterday derided Clinton's reticence to meet foreign dictators as hidebound thinking, and Clinton retorted later in the day by questioning Obama's commitment to running a positive campaign.

The dispute, their first serious toe-to-toe encounter of the primary race, has exposed lines of attack from the two Democratic top contenders that voters are sure to see again and again throughout the second half of 2007: To Clinton, Obama lacks the experience and wisdom to be president; to Obama, Clinton lacks the judgment and fresh thinking to lead the country in 2009.

"That little debate and this little fight reflects a bigger way in which they're positioning themselves against each other," said Julian E. Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.

He added, "I think the tension was already there, and this was one of the first public incarnations of it."

This new phase of spirited engagement between Clinton and Obama, which is also sucking oxygen away from the other six Democratic presidential contenders, began during the debate Monday night. The candidates were asked whether they would commit to sitting down, unconditionally, with leaders of nations such as Iran, Syria, and North Korea; Obama said he would, but Clinton argued it could "make a situation even worse" to promise such high-level summits without many assurances and preconditions.

Their split over that question made headlines the next day, and the war of words between the two and their surrogates has only intensified.

On Tuesday, both camps issued memos touting their candidate's foreign policy prescriptions and criticizing the opponent's. Clinton's campaign said that it was "a mistake to commit the power and prestige of America's presidency years ahead of time by making such a blanket commitment." Obama's campaign tried to clarify his answer by saying he would not agree to high-level meetings without "diplomatic spadework," but it also said his willingness to sit down with anyone represented "exactly the kind of change and new thinking that excites voters about an Obama presidency."

Later that day, the candidates stepped up the sparring in separate interviews to the Quad-City Times, an Iowa newspaper. Clinton said of Obama's remarks in the debate, "I thought that was irresponsible and frankly naïve." Obama countered by saying, "If anything is irresponsible and naïve it was to authorize George Bush to send 160,000 young American men and women into Iraq apparently without knowing how they were going to get out."

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If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? m.of v. w.shaka speare

Obamas coopted Cornel West...does that mean Obama's down? is that how I should be taking this? I did take it that way. power moves baby

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The Tragicomic: It’s embodied in the blues, jazz, (HIP HOP, CORNELL <<one slight deserves another!!!!<< REALLY MISSED THE BOAT ON THAT ONE!!!) and the African experience in the New World -- the ability to withstand terrorism, embrace one’s worst enemies lovingly and bear the unbearable in song.